A pair of former inmates put the province on notice Wednesday that they intend to sue over the treatment they endured in Ottawa’s jail and are inviting any other inmate who has served even a single day in the notorious detention centre over the past two years to join them in a class-action lawsuit.

One-time prisoners Mark Zuccala and Jude Joseph filed a notice of action over what their lawyer describes as the “inhumane” and “degrading” conditions at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre.

Lawyer Paul Champ said the class-action lawsuit is the result of a decade of “systemic neglect” at the jail on Innes Road. Champ estimates the lawsuit could potentially involve as many as 4,000 inmates and targets a wide range of “deprivations” faced by the prisoners.

“Double-bunking, triple-bunking, being forced to sleep on the floor, medical appointments being cancelled, family visits being cancelled, prolonged lockdowns, lack of access to hygiene products, lack of access to showers, lack of access to cleaning products, inadequate food or poor quality food – basically the issues that affect all inmates,” said Champ. “We will be looking for damages for every individual who was subjected to those conditions.”

Champ said he has been hearing “appalling” stories from inmates who have been detained at the detention centre.

“One of our lead plaintiffs has told us about a practice at Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre where prisoners being held in the dorm units would be subjected to strip searches approximately once per week. These strip searches would be altogether, all 30 inmates would be lined up together and be forced to strip and were subjected to rectal searches in front of other inmates,” said Champ. “It’s our view this is inhumane and demeaning and degrading treatment.”

Zuccala, a 36-year-old City of Ottawa employee who had never been in jail before, spent 202 days in the detention centre last year as a result of being charged with uttering threats and a breach of his release conditions. He was so upset with the conditions in the jail – which included the routine strip searches in front of strangers, a lack of yard time, visits that were cancelled for weeks at a time and mould in the showers – that he circulated a petition that was signed by half the inmates in his unit.

Joseph, a 23-year-old Haitian immigrant who came to Canada when he was 14, was in the jail on an immigration hold after being arrested and charged with minor offences. Joseph was triple-bunked during much of his seven months in the jail before his charges were eventually withdrawn.

“These are human rights violations on a mass scale,” said Champ of what goes on in the jail.

“We can’t pretend that we don’t know about it anymore. We can’t turn our eyes away anymore. Throwing someone in a small cage and leaving them to rot for two years in inhumane conditions is no way to rehabilitate a prisoner.”

Champ said any inmate who served time in the detention centre between May 25, 2014, and June 30 of this year is eligible to join by filling out an online form that will be posted on his law firm’s website on Thursday.

Champ said he’s already started circulating copies of the form to advocacy groups, including Mothers Offering Mutual Support, the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project, and Elizabeth Fry Society. The form asks for their name, dates of incarceration and some details about the conditions experienced.

Champ said he believes that the potential damages could run in the tens of millions of dollars. However, there are still hurdles. The plaintiffs must file a statement of claim in 60 days, then go before a judge to convince him a class-action lawsuit is necessary and appropriate. It could be years before it goes to a civil trial.

Champ said he is encouraged by recent efforts by Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Yasir Naqvi to improve the jail, but believes the problems run so deep that nothing but a court order can force the province to make the necessary changes.

A task force that was put in place after this newspaper published stories of inmates having to sleep in damp and mouldy shower cells is expected to make recommendations next Wednesday on how to alleviate overcrowding and improve conditions at the jail.

Naqvi has vowed to make the task force’s recommendations public the day it presents them to the ministry. The province is also conducting a review into the use of segregation. That report is expected later this year.

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